Welcome to the world Ellie Caroline Pratt

Ellie February 20th at 1:32 pm. She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces was 20 inches long and delivered via "C" section.

Baby Update

I had a doctors appointment this morning and there is news to report. I am 1 centimeter dilated and 40% effaced. If I do not have this baby by the weekend we are being induced at 6:30 a.m. Monday morning! So exciting, there is light at the end of the tunnel! My doctor seems to think I won't make it til Monday, so we'll see. Hopefully the next post will be announcing Ellie's arrival. Stay tuned...

Attempted Ear Piercing

Today Dad called to say that Tootie was going to get her ears pierced. I was not going to be at work so I decided to go along on such a fun outing! Knowing my littlest sister and her changing moods, I should have known what the outcome would be. But on the chance that I might actually have something fun to do on a Monday, I ignored the little voice in my head saying...."She's not going to do this" and happily went along. I was picked up by Casie, Dad, Tootie and Bailey and off we went to Claire's for the grand event.

When we got to Claire's the lady said she could only do one ear at a time because she was the only person at the store. This was not an option for us, so off we went to Walmart - where ear piercing is free.... for some people! Toot was so excited, and couldn't quit smiling (should have been a sign). We were all but holding hands and skipping into Walmart. Armed with our cameras, Me, Dad, and Casie were snapping away at such a fun occasion.

The Big Mistake - The ladies just took too long. Tootie sat down and was nervous but she was ready and willing. The two women took their time talking and pulling her hair back, cleaning her ears, marking the spot, la la la. By this time, the somewhat nervous face had turned into an "oh crap!, what's happening to me" face. Then it was all over, there was no way Tootie was letting them get near her with the piercers. (In her defense, I must say I probably would have done the same thing had I been her age. I did not get my ears pierced until I was 18 - I am a big fat chicken. And whenever I am in a situation that makes me scared, it must come and go quickly or else I abort mission!)

Casie decided that maybe we should first pick out Tootie's prize for getting her ears pierced and go back when she was ready. This didn't take long. A lovely tattoo kit was quickly spotted and picked out, and all the sudden Toot was ready for the piercing again. Except when we got there and she was seated her little hands refused to move from the sides of her head. Meanwhile, our lovely Father is in her face with his camera phone snapping away at the horrible scene like the paparrazi. As if this wasn't making her nervous enough, he was saying things like, "Tootie, come on now, we ain't got all day....we can't just hang out at Walmart, we got to just do it and get it over with." The situation was not going to get better. No ears were getting pierced today. So what happened? An at-home ear piercing kit was purchased.....the free ear piercing had turned into $20. Who's going to pierce little Toot's ears you may be wondering??? Casie........and DAD! I have a sneaky feeling that Tootie will one day wish she had just let the Walmart Women pierce her ears.

Waiting on Baby Ellie

I am one week away from my due date and it's officially a waiting game. We are so ready for Ellie to be here and it seems the more excited we have become, the longer it is taking for her to get here. She seems to be just as stubborn as her parents. She is obviously very comfortable where she is and is making no immediate plans to move! I am driving Ryan crazy asking him at least 10 times a day, "When do you think she's going to come?" to which he replies, "I DON"T KNOW!" We can't wait to see her and see what she looks like and to hold her. But realistically....I am tired of being pregnant!

Everyone said that I would reach that point, and they were right! In the beginning the doctor gives you an "estimate" of how much weight you should gain over the course of the pregnancy.....what a JOKE! In my opinion, that estimate is an evil plot to make you feel as bad about yourself as possible. Here you have a professional telling you "you really don't want to gain more than "x" amount of weight, but don't diet." WHAT????!!!!! As someone who has always watched her weight and excercised regularly, this tremendous weight gain has been quite difficult to handle. Making it seem even worse, is my "Your Pregnancy Week by Week" book, which for the past 2 weeks has said that at this point I probably won't gain any more weight..... What delusional person wrote this, I don't know! But during this time where I shouldn't be gaining anymore weight, I have gained the most weight so far! Lovely. The statement, "You may notice some swelling" is like saying, "if you jump off a building, you might come in contact with the ground!" I look like the Michelin Man! (and I am not kidding). This was confirmed yesterday when I went to Mamaw's for lunch and no sooner had I stepped foot into the house, Emma, Sam and Mamaw all started dying laughing at me! Then at the table it became a fun game to mash fingers into my feet to see the imprint that is left because of all the water retention. I am so over this!

As if being depressed by my enormous body wasn't enough, seemingly simple tasks that were once taken for granted, have become quite difficult in these last few days. For example, tying my shoes...not a big deal right? WRONG! This task became a problem as I was shopping in Target the other day. I looked down to notice my shoes had come untied. So I attempted to bend down and tie them. No such luck. I couldn't reach my feet by bending over and realized the only way I was going to be able to tie them was if I could sit down and bring my foot to me. Not a problem right? WRONG! Because herein lies another task that is taken for granted....being able to get back up once you sit down! I know, from much experience at home that if I sit down, I might not be able to get up without help from Ryan. So there I was in Target walking around with my shoe laces flopping like a 3 year old... and there was nothing I could do about it.

Other tasks that have proven more difficult are things such as:

1. eating at a table without spilling food all over myself. I can't get close enough to the table to prevent it from happening!

2. putting on tights - it's cold out and my Michelin Man legs do not need to be seen, so tights are a necessity. I can't reach my feet so I must lay down on the bed and struggle with all my might to get my foot in the tights. (Ryan is a big fan of this show....he gets a huge laugh out of it! I am so glad I am providing such comic relief!)

3. wearing shoes - My once size 6 foot has now exploded to a size 7-1/2! on a good day!

4. finding something to wear - my maternity clothes which used to be on the baggy side no longer fit....my stomach is so big that the elastic waist squeezes me to death when I sit down. The only relief is to wear my yoga pants and pjs - not a good look at work. Not to mention that my stomach hangs out from underneath my shirts. I am sure I'll sell a lot of houses this way.

5. getting in and out of the car - I basically have to fall into the car. Getting out of the car means I have to grab hold of the steering wheel and door and pull myself back up.

6. going to the bathroom in the middle of the night - having to get up from laying down is the most difficult....gone are the days of relying on stomach muscles to help raise yourself up. I basically have to roll off the bed and pray that my feet hit the floor first.

Please don't be niave and think these are the only tasks that are posing problems. There are many more that do not need to be discussed in polite company. Needless to say, I am very ready to meet my baby and am longing for contractions (or as ryan calls them...contraptions) to start. I know that as soon as the pain begins I'll think I was crazy for praying for them to happen, but I am just trying to keep my eye on the prize!

Ellie's Nursery

Here are some pictures of Ellie's nursery. We worked pretty hard getting it ready for her. Ryan painted the room, the crib, and everything else that required painting, and he hung the letters - which was not a very fun job for either of us. My mom made the curtains, and Ryan hung them- again, not such a fun job for him. He was very glad when I declared the room done!

Welcome to our Blog!

Well, I figured with a new baby coming any day now it would be a good idea to start a blog. Especially since we have several family members who live far away from us. This way we can hopefully keep you up to date with all the crazy things that are sure to come our way.

Ellie Caroline Pratt will hopefully make her grand entrance into our family very soon and we can't wait for all of you to meet her. I have all the time in the world for blogging now, I am sure it will be a completely different story once she is here, but I'll do my best to post pictures and notes as often as I can. If I can figure out the video camera you may even get to see some videos too! And if you think I am big in this picture, whoa...you should see me now - ha!